Flipside
by Little Kunai
Summary: Dr. Wily and his robots are getting more and more dangerous to deal with. Roll goes undercover to find out Wily's plans, but then things go wrong. Ruby/Spears Universe
1. Gone Awry

**Flip Side**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own the 1994 Mega Man cartoon, or any of the games. **

**They belong to Capcom and Ruby/Spears.**

**Gone Awry**

* * *

Roll watched worriedly as Dr. Light worked frantically on Mega Man. The Wily bots had really done a number on him and it would take a while before he could have him working again. Dr. Wily had gotten downright dangerous now that he had so many robots under his command and was becoming a bigger threat everyday. Their last mission to stop him had nearly gotten Mega Man trashed permanently.

Dr. Light turned and gave a tired, but reassuring smile to her.

"He'll be alright Roll, don't you worry."

"Yeah." She murmured.

"Dr. Light, someone still needs to find out what that creep and his goon bots are up too and I'm volunteering!"

Dr. Light opened his mouth to protest but than stopped. Roll may not have been as good in battle as Mega Man, but she was excellent at information-gathering and was every bit as headstrong as Rock and…he thought regretfully, Blues.

"It sounds like you have something in mind." He said.

She nodded. "It'll be dangerous, but it's the best way to do it."

He frowned when he heard her plan, but he had to admit it was a good one.

"Alright. I think I have some devices that can help you, although reactivating the reboot program will have to be timed carefully. Are you sure about this?" He asked.

"It needs to be done." She said.

The determination that gleamed in her blue eyes sometimes made Dr. Light forget that these were highly advanced, independently thinking droids.

"But we need to make it seem real."

There was regret and worry in her voice as she looked down at her partially crushed, partially fried brother. She was afraid that he'd never be the same again and Elec Man and Guts Man would pay.

He caught onto her thoughts and shifted uncomfortably. The idea of deceiving his son made him very uneasy, but he could see the wisdom in it. He rubbed his back and inserted a chip that would restore Roll exactly as she was, made a copy of that and typed in a code that would activate only on his command. Next he added a well-hidden espionage program, cleverly designed as a back-up memory chip so that she could record everything and transmit data back to the lab instantly.

When she was ready he hugged her tightly. Regretting the fact that he spent less time with them as a father than he should.

"Be careful." He said.

"Don't worry, I will." And sped off into the night.

Dr. Light turned back to Mega Man and continued his work, he was anxious yes, but Roll had proven herself capable many times over. She could do this, he had confidence in her.

She flew for half the night, eyes trained on the ground for any of Wily's bots. Then she found one of them. Guts Man.

"Hey you big robo jerk! Your gonna pay for what you did to Mega!"

Guts Man turned around. "Aww. Upset that we kicked his butt? Well boo hoo!" He said as Roll leaped down. Roll kicked him, but the big bot caught her leg and threw her into the wall.

Roll shook her head and charged foolishly but was easily outmatched. He held her in his arms as Elec Man sauntered up.

"Let go of me!" She yelled, thrashing wildly.

A very unwelcome popped into her head. What if Wily ordered him to trash her instead of reprogram her?

As if on cue, Dr. Wily called.

"Elec Man, Guts Man, report."

"We caught the little blue twerp's sister." Guts Man chuckled. "You want me to turn her into scrap metal?" He asked, arms tightening around her. Roll gasped as she felt her torso begin to press inward.

Dr. Wily was silent for a minute.

"No. Disable her and bring her to me intact, I have something in mind for Mega Man's troublesome sister. Star Man and Cut Man will be picking you up shortly." He burst into his usual deranged laughter, which used to be a constant running joke between them, but now it sounded darker, more confident, there was something wrong with it. Before Roll could place exactly what was wrong with it, Elec Man fried her circuits just enough to shut her down.

They waited under the streetlamp.

Elec Man leaned against the pole while Guts Man peered up and down the empty street.

"Well where are they?" He asked. He didn't feel like being caught by Mega Man while he held his sister unconscious over his shoulder.

"Relax, Dr. Wily said they'll be here soon."

Twenty minutes passed and Guts Man was beginning to get on his partner's nerves. Elec Man opened his mouth to snap at him when the car pulled up.

"About time." He grumbled, tossing Roll in the back unceremoniously.

"Hey! Who's the babe?" Asked Star Man, twisting around to get a good look at Roll.

"It's Mega Man's annoying sister you idiot." Cut Man snapped.

"Why'd she come after us?" Guts Man wondered. "You don't think the little blue dweeb got destroyed do ya?"

"By you two dumb bots? Not a chance!" Star Man snorted.

Cut Man privately agreed with him, but kept his mouth shut.

"Since when did you did you ever do better you little punk?" Guts Man growled.

"Oh shut up!" Said Elec Man, who was tired of the bickering.

"Let's just get her back to Dr. Wily's lab before she snaps out of it."

The car released its wings and took off into the sky like a jet towards home.

Proto Man and Shadow Man were there to greet them when they got back.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my baby sister." He jeered. "Wily's got some big plans for you."

"When doesn't Wily have big plans?" Shadow Man grumbled.

He had never been fond of Proto Man or of Dr. Wily's plans. There were two many loopholes and Proto Man's ego and wanna-be-bad-boy-attitude always got in the way, but Dr. Wily refused to listen to what he had to say, especially concerning Proto Man and so he had stopped saying anything at all and simply let things take their course.

Proto Man ignored him as he took Roll from Guts Man.

"Well if we can't have Mega Man on our side, at least I can have my sister-in-battle."

Shadow Man looked intrigued, perhaps Dr. Wily was finally onto something good here. Mega Man _would _have a difficult time harming his sister. Maybe this time he'd help make sure things ran more smoothly from the background.

Proto Man walked into the lab and deposited Roll on the table. Dr. Wily waited impatiently, he agreed with Proto Man. It may not be as good as converting Mega Man, but his former partner cared about his robot creations deeply and this would knock him down a few pegs. Cracking his knuckles Dr. Wily went to work, allowing her just enough to think independently, but making sure she would be obedient to his-hello? What was this?

He had his new computer run scans on the chips. A program for espionage cleverly disguised as a standard memory chip? So that was their game was it? Well it might have worked if Dr. Wily hadn't programmed a few of the chips himself inside Dr. Light's robots. This meant that there had to be a copy of Roll's programming somewhere. Ah. There it was, he hacked the codes, making sure that it looked as though nothing had been tampered with until he gave his word.

Wouldn't he be surprised to find out that his plan had backfired? He laughed again, mind whirling with new designs, riding the wave of madness that drove his visions for the new robot. He couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when he unveiled her in battle.

Mega Man woke up a few days later to bright sunlight streaming through his windows.

"Ohh. I feel like I got run over by a freight train." He groaned.

"Mega Man! Thank goodness you're awake!" Dr. Light said, but he looked tired and somber.

Rush barked happily and licked his face.

Mega Man frowned, something was missing…no! Someone was missing!

"Where's Roll?" He asked.

Something was very wrong here. Roll was always there to greet him after he'd gotten repairs done.

Dr. Wily frowned, he really didn't want to lie, but for now it would be better if Mega truly believed that she had been captured by Dr. Wily's forces. He only hoped he could forgive them both for the deception.

"I'm afraid she's been captured by Dr. Wily's robots."

"What? We've got to rescue her!" He cried, leaping out of bed.

"Not yet. We need time to locate her. As soon as I have the exact coordinates we'll go after her."

"Ok." He said trustingly.

Mega Man looked so downhearted that again, Dr. Light was struck at how human they were, despite all evidence pointing otherwise. Hopefully they would have Roll back within the week and perhaps _keep _Dr. Wily behind bars for good.

For nearly a week Dr. Wily worked on Roll, carefully reprogramming her to his liking. She would still have her bravery, intelligence, resourcefulness and mulishness. In short, she would still be Roll. That would make his triumph and his revenge so much sweeter. He got rid of that ridiculous programming she used as a weapon and replaced it with very special weaponry. Oh yes. She would be one a kind. He would make sure of that.

And for nearly a week, Dr. Light and Mega Man scoured the globe frantically, searching for Roll's whereabouts.

It was late one night when Roll awakened, she felt strange. She thought, staring at her newly armored body through the lighter visor on her helmet.

She did a quick scan on herself, relieved to find that the espionage chip was still in tact and that her rebooting command was in place.

Then Dr. Wily walked in and the words scum bag was on her lips, but she was unable to say it. His robots could argue with him to an extent, but blatant disrespect was obviously a no-no. She was also disturbed to realize that she had no real desire to trash him, Proto Man or the lab.

"Welcome to our side, little sister." Said Proto Man offering her a hand.

Roll was only mildly disturbed to find herself reaching out for that hand.

Just what had Wily done to her? No. Stop! She had agreed to do this. It wasn't just about making them pay, it was about helping put Wily out of business for good! Wasn't it? She suddenly didn't have much of an urge to do that either.

Proto spun her around to face a mirror and Roll could only gape at her reflection.

The helmet covering her head was a dark shade of pink, stylishly lined with silver, a visor with a built-in cross hairs and night vision covered her eyes, yet it still let her long, blonde hair flow out behind her.

The armor surrounding her body was the same color as the helmet and it was very feminine, accentuating her curves and her long legs, yet it held a dangerous allure that reminded her of the chic, femme fatales she sometimes watched on TV. A set of razor sharp, butterfly wings with built in jet repulsors extended from her back.

She wondered if she could convince Dr. Light to let her keep all this after they figured out Wily's plans and bagged him. She totally deserved a new look after this and it would help her be more efficient in battle.

"Do you like it? I designed it myself." Proto Man asked with the same arrogant smirk on his face that had made her wish she could punch him in the past, but now only mild annoyance remained where sharp dislike once was.

Roll was soon to learn that no matter what she or the other bots thought about Proto Man, he was to be respected.

She shot him a sharp look that said she didn't believe him.

"The doc may have done all your programming sis, but I know how to make evil look good." He said.

She looked again, there _was_ a definite resemblance to Proto Man's armor, but it had its own unique flair that she really, _really _liked and she had to admit he did make it look good. She'd just never admit it out loud.

"Enough bragging. We strike in two days time. Make sure she knows what's expected of her Proto Man."

Proto whistled a little tune as he led her out of the lab. He knew exactly what Dr. Wily meant.

It was late that night that Dr. Light received his first transmission from Roll.

His fingers flew over the keyboard as he analyzed it. He was very relieved to know that she was safe. As concern for her had been eating at him for the last five days. He wished he could see her to confirm it and he wondered what changes had been made to her.

Well, if the information he was receiving was correct, he'd find out soon enough. He thought as he ran his fingers through his silvery hair. Now it was time to break the news to Mega. He could only hope that Roll's plan would go off without a hitch for all their sakes.

"Mega Man. I have information of Roll's whereabouts."

"Where is she? Is she alright?" He asked. Blue eyes searching his eagerly.

"Roll has been reprogrammed by Dr. Wily."

"Oh no! This is terrible! I've got to do something!"

Mega Man was taken aback by this unexpected news, his worst fears had involved his sister being crushed into scrap metal, or melted down out of spite, but he hadn't thought that Wily would attempt to reprogram her again. After all, the crazed scientist seldom tried the same trick twice.

"I also have information about what Dr. Wily's up too which will let us hit two birds with one stone." And then we can bring Roll safely back home and turn the tables on him. He thought.

"This is where they'll be headed in two days." He said, pointing at the map. "We can intercept them here and I've already warned the president of the impending danger."

"Do you think she'll be ok?" He asked.

Dr. Light couldn't say anything either way.

He had never seen Dr. Light look so haggard, so…old. It was like he'd aged ten years since he'd first woken up.

"Don't worry, I promise I'll bring her back safely." Mega Man said.

"I have no doubt in my mind about that."

Another small lie. Dr. Light wasn't sure just how much her reprogramming had changed her. He could have had her memory wiped completely for all he knew. If Mega and Roll were forced to fight…heaven help them.


	2. The Other Side

**The Other Side**

* * *

Roll followed Proto Man to her room, trying to ignore all the dirty looks the other bots were giving her and mentally ticking them off in her brain so she could relay to Dr. Light who was on base and who wasn't. A few of them she'd seen too often, a few of them, she seldom saw at all.

"Now you might feel weird about attacking Mega Man. The doc understands that."

Roll leaned back on her hands as she sat on the bed and narrowed her eyes at Proto Man. Though it was probably pointless, since he couldn't see it.

But he smirked anyways and Roll scowled.

"But you gotta understand your working for us now. You kinda don't have a choice."

"Hey! Don't give me that look!" He said, raising his hands in a mock placatory gesture. "I'm not the one who got caught. That was all you sis." He snickered.

She bristled at the word sis. It was one thing for Mega to use that word, but she never wanted to hear it coming from _him. _She definitely didn't recall him ever acknowledging her as his sister.

_But then, haven't I always been stuck in the background? Or treated as a nuisance? When have I ever really been acknowledged by anyone? _She wondered bitterly. Maybe now was a chance to show what she was made of.

"So," Proto said conversationally after the awkward silence, "I'm sure you're dying to see what you can do right?"

"I might be a little curious." She said, crossing her arms and trying to imitate his sneering tone and nonchalant manner and failing miserably.

"Yeah you're curious all right. C'mon! Let's go play!"

"Ooh!" She growled and stomped after him.

They reached the triple steel room that Wily kept for training his new robots and Proto locked the door and took a shot.

"Hey! What'd you do that for?" She snapped as she scrambled out of the way.

"You gotta learn to think on your feet here."

"Oh you mean like you do?" Roll taunted as she finally, tentatively tapped into her weapons system. "I guess that'll be a good way to get my butt kicked huh!"

"Whatever you say _sister." _He said the word in the same, sneering, falsely affection tone that he used whenever he called Mega Man brother.

"Don't call me that!" She snarled. "What do you care anyways? You never called me sister or _anything _at all since the first day we met!"

She took a wild shot at him and Metal Blade came soaring out.

"Hoo hoo!" Proto Man hooted. "Sounds like someone has a lot of repressed anger!"

"Shut up!" She snapped as more Metal Blades flew towards him, forcing him to duck out of the way. Than she flinched at the venom in her own voice.

She sighed and slumped against the wall.

"I guess your right." She murmured. "I've always been angry about getting left in the dust."

"Hey, I'm a battle bot not a shrink bot." He grumbled, but walked over to her anyways.

"Let me put it this way sis," He said with one hand raised in the air, "the only reason your gonna get left in the dust now, is if you let it happen."

_Could I really make a new start here? Could I really become a powerful robot master? _She wondered and then mentally shook herself out of the traitorous thoughts. _Well, I've still gotta convince Wily that I'm on his side, until we take him down and I'm definitely gonna keep all this neat programming no matter what, so I might as well learn how to use it. _She thought as she stood up and got into a fighting position.

Proto Man took a few steps back and grinned as she accessed Pharaoh Man's Pharaoh Shot.

"Now we're talking!" Proto Man said as the two engaged in a fierce battle that she and Mega would never have engaged in.

After they had both nearly exhausted their energy, Roll reflected somewhat guiltily that if Mega was the kind, overprotective brother, than Proto Man was the wild, rebellious brother, the one who pushed and challenged her to grow, even if it was by provoking her. She suddenly wished, if only for a second, that things could have been different and she could have had both.

Roll was still marveling at her surprisingly wide range of abilities as she checked up on herself.

"Whoa. It's like I'm several Wily bots in one." She breathed.

He put his arm around her shoulder, to annoy her more than anything else and he knew that she knew it, because she scowled at him.

"Well yeah, but you've got your own style too. You can do things some of us can't do. You can start earthquakes, create sound-based shockwaves, fire off titanium bullets, use small-scale, hurricane force winds, even though you can't hit the broadside of a barn."

"Don't be a jerk." She grumbled, shoving him irritably into a passing bot.

"Hey! Watch it!" Air Man grumbled.

"Sorry." Roll replied automatically, before realizing just _who _it was.

They glared at each other. "What is she doing here?" He asked tersely, weapon at the ready.

"Hey relax! She's part of the team now." His easy smile was still there, but there was something, something in the tone of his voice just shy of menacing.

Both Roll and Air Man blinked in surprise.

Air Man studied her and than Proto Man for several minutes before saying, "I'll believe it when I see it." And stalked away.

Roll went to her room. It had been a long, confusing day for her and she was too low on energy to try and sort it all out tonight.

Dr. Light frowned as he got the next transmission from Roll. It listed the known bots at the base and informed him that she would be staying behind until they could catch Dr. Wily unawares and put him behind bars for good. He was very troubled by all this and no matter how much he told himself to trust in the both of them, the ominous feeling deep in his gut was telling him that things were going to go terribly wrong before they got better. If that is, they got better at all.

"No! I mustn't think like that! Everything will turn out alright in the end." He told himself. Than sighed, "Oh what have we gotten ourselves into?"

Someone else sat up late that night, worrying about her. She'd be practically defenseless against a lot of the stronger robots and what if he'd wiped her memory clean and reprogrammed her completely. She'd never really be Roll again. What if he had to fight against her? He wasn't sure he could bring himself to do _that!_

With the excitement of her fight against Proto Man worn off, Roll tossed and turned as she realized that she _would _have to fight against Mega Man and Rush. How could she bring herself to-to do _that! _What if Dr. Wily's programming was strong enough that she had no choice at all. What if she couldn't hold back even if she wanted too? Would she even feel anything at all if she hurt them? All this worrying would do her no good. She would just try to take things as they came, one day at a time. She told herself as she finally switched into hibernation mode.

"Well?" Dr. Wily demanded as Proto Man came into report.

He smiled.

"She could use some training, especially target practice. But it's gonna be real interesting working with her. Heh heh. My sister-in-battle. Never saw that coming from little miss goody-goody."

"Humph. Just make sure she is ready Proto Man and keep a close watch on her."

"You got it." He acknowledged. "So who's going with us on this little trip?"

"You'll be leading Cut Man, Metal Man, Air Man, Snake Man and Elec Man."

He put his clasped hands in front of his face in a meditative pose.

"I gotta say doc, I don't think too highly about _all_ your choices."

"It's necessary." Wily said dismissively.


	3. Siblings in Battle

**Siblings-in-Battle**

**

* * *

**

Roll all but dragged herself out of the training room. Dr. Wily had put her through an intense training session involving going up against some of his toughest robots. It had not been fun. Not that she'd ever admit it out loud.

Training with Shadow Man had improved her reflexes and training with Guts Man had improved physical strength, though she suspected that he hit her a lot harder out of spite. Gemini Man and Air Man had helped her increase stamina. Yeah, she was totally wiped out.

"Nice training session sis. I especially liked that one move where you freaked out so bad, that you nearly flung yourself into the wall. You'll have to teach it to me someday." He snickered.

"Get bent." She grumbled.

"Tomorrow's the big day, so you might wanna go into full hibernation mode tonight. " He grinned.

Roll was tempted to stick her tongue out at him.

"I hope your ready." He said in a singsong voice.

Roll was suddenly very grateful that he couldn't see the look of panic in her eyes.

* * *

In the dark hours of the morning, Wily sent out Shadow Man, Crash Man and Elec Man.

"You know what to do." Dr. Wily said.

Shadow Man nodded and led the other two away.

About half an hour later, he took the others out of hibernation mode. He couldn't wait! He just couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when he unleashed her! His deranged laughter echoed in the corridors.

* * *

Roll shivered as she wedged herself in between Snake Man and Metal Man.

With this many robots, it was a tight squeeze.

"Just don't get in our way little girl." Air Man growled.

Roll almost snapped that she would kick their butts instead but shut up just in time. As much as she hated to do it, she really had to prove herself to Wily today.

Proto Man didn't say anything at all, he merely smiled, obviously in high spirits.

* * *

As the sun slowly lifted higher into the sky, Mega Man became more nervous, anxious and jittery. In a few minutes, he'd be going up against his own sister. When they got there the chaos and confusion was already well underway.

"It'll be alright Mega, we'll get through this." Dr. Light reassured him.

Rush barked and whined, anxious to see Roll again.

"Let's go boy."

His feet began pounding the hard concrete as he and Rush ran towards the White House.

"It's about time you showed up _brother."_

But Mega Man barely paid any attention to him. Because Roll was standing right next to him and all he could do was stare and stare.

Dr. Light was just as stunned at Roll's drastic changes.

_Talk about a total makeover! But…is she still…_

"And just how did you know I'd be here?" Mega asked.

"Cause you always show up to crash the party." Proto Man snickered.

"Proto Man, Ultra Girl, Metal Man, destroy Mega Man."

"Ultra Girl?" Roll muttered.

"I'll explain later." Said Proto under his breath.

Metal Man appeared beside them.

"Heh heh. I've been looking forward to this all day Mega Man."

"Sorry Mega Man, but your little trip ends right here." She said.

Roll took careful aim and fired off a sound wave. She was stunned at how easy it was, even though she was racked by guilt on the inside.

Mega Man was shocked! Roll fired at him! It was too unreal!

"Hah hah! My little brother just got knocked on his butt by a girl!"

"Hey! Girls can totally kick butt too you chauvinist!"

"Ok calm down. I'm entitled to a little taunting sis." He said with a placatory gesture.

Mega Man stiffened. How dare he call Roll his sister!

"She's not your sister!" He snapped and rushed at Proto Man.

"Hey, it's all in the family."

Metal Man chuckled as he began to fire blade after blade, forcing Mega Man to dodge and fall back and try and find a way around.

Mega Man fired off several shots at Metal Man to deflect his blades, tucked into a roll and barely missed getting a slash to the face.

Proto Man fired a few shots into the ground, creating a dust screen.

"Hey sis, fire off another sound wave when Metal Man takes a shot."

"Now."

Roll hesitated.

"What are you waiting for?" Metal hissed. "I said now!"

Roll swallowed hard and reluctantly fired her sound wave a second after he shot off Metal Blade.

"Whoa!" He yelled as the sound wave propelled the metal blades into him.

He pulled them out and got up.

Proto Man leaped up and grabbed hold of a tree, firing at Mega Man who was still unable to see because of the dust screen.

Mega Man just barely managed to dodge the plasma. Than he spotted a flash of yellow and hit Proto Man hard in the face.

Proto Man punched him back and kicked him in the stomach.

"What did you do to her?"

"I just designed the outfit, which she loves by the way." He bragged. "The doc was the one who upgraded her system."

Proto Man got his arm singed by a close plasma blast. "This is Dr. Light's fault you know." He went on.

"What are you talking about?" Mega Man snapped. "I'm not in the mood for mind games Proto Man!"

"It's not a mind game _brother. _Maybe if Dr. Light had programmed her better, she wouldn't be on our side."

Mega Man grit his teeth. It was the truth after all and it hurt. If he and Dr. Light hadn't been so stubborn about protecting her, than she would never gotten into this mess.

"Ooh did I hit a sore spot?" Proto asked.

Roll joined in the fray. She was angry at what Proto Man said, even if it was true, as much as she loved Dr. Light, it had always frustrated her to know that she seemed to get in the way.

"Roll is that true?" He asked.

Roll looked down.

"I never knew you felt that way."

Dr. Light shook his head, neither had he. The girl had done a remarkable job of keeping her anger hidden from both of them.

"C'mon Roll, let's go home. I'm sure if you tell Dr. Light how you feel-"

"I've been telling him for the last five years! If this is what it takes for you two to finally-" But she couldn't finish that sentence, it was too painful, sounded too much like she really was a traitor, like she really was one of Wily's bots. Instead she stomped her foot and grimaced when she remembered that that stomp could start a small, localized earthquake.

Dr. Wily rubbed his chin. "Well, this is an interesting development."

He had no idea that Roll harbored feelings of frustration against her creator, he knew several of his robots did and it made him wonder what other secrets this little "family" had and he began to wonder if any of his robots were keeping secrets from him as well.

"Don't hold back sis, tell us how you really feel."

"Oh shut up!"

"Sorry Mega but this is how it has to be." _At least for now, I hope you can forgive me. _She thought.

"I don't want to have to do this but I guess I'm gonna have to knock you senseless, so Dr. Light can program some sense back into you." He said grimly.

A blur of red tackled Roll and if it had been any other situation, she would have laughed.

"Rush! Get off me!" She complained as the dog's paws scrabbled on her in enthusiastic affection.

"Let me help get that tin mutt off you!"

Proto Man shot Rush hard enough to send him flying and the dog landed in a jumbled heap of parts with a terrified yelp.

"Rush!" Both of them cried out.

Roll couldn't help but shoot a dark look at Proto Man. He didn't have to do that! But before Roll could protest Rush's treatment, she was knocked sideways by Metal Man.

"Little blue punk!"

Metal Man fired off another round of Metal Blades, but Mega Man sidestepped him, grabbed his arm and took his power. Then he did the one thing he didn't want to do. He fired at Roll.

* * *

Shadow Man knocked out the two guards and beckoned for Elec Man who had been put on his team at the last minute.

Elec Man short-circuited the building's lights and security system and they crept in.

Shadow Man once again went through the tedious process of knocking out most of the guards, except for two.

Crash Man grabbed the shocked president and smiled menacingly.

"I wouldn't take another step if I were you." Shadow Man said from above them.

"If you do, my friend here will blow the president to bits."

"I don't understand. How did you know we were here?" The president asked.

"You can thank Dr. Light for that." Shadow Man said, of course he was being intentionally vague and ambiguous since Dr. Light had know idea that he had sent the president right into a trap, but it would work well to his advantage since humans automatically jumped to conclusions.

The president goggled and his guards gaped as Shadow Man and Crash Man carried the president to the waiting jet. Elec Man frowned.

"What took you so long?"

Shadow Man ignored him.

"Shadow Man to Dr. Wily, we've captured the target and we're heading back to the Swamp Base now."

"Excellent." Dr. Wily said. "Team 2, retreat now!"

* * *

Snake Man obeyed and picked up Cut Man who had been blasted and would need repairs.

Roll was too close to dodge the blast but Proto Man took out his shield and deflected it.

Metal Man growled and grabbed Roll's arm, reclaiming his power from her.

"Wait a minute how did you do that?" Mega wondered.

"The Doc says retreat." Air Man said.

Proto rolled out of the way and Roll took another shot at Mega Man.

"Can't you see we're a little tied up here?" Metal Man asked through grit teeth.

Air Man waited till his three cohorts attacked and shot out his Air Shooter to stir up a mixture of dust, grass and leaves and they took off for the jet.

Mega Man walked towards Rush dejectedly and stroked the dog's muzzle as Dr. Light flew in to pick them up.

"Mega, are you alright?" He asked gently, placing a hand on Mega Man's shoulder.

"I won't be alright till we bring Roll back home." He said. "But at least the president's safe."

But little did they know that things were going to take a turn for the worst


	4. The Damage Done

**The Damage Done**

* * *

Air Man was sitting in the second seat, arguing quietly with Cut Man, who seemed a little lost without his usual partner. Roll wondered briefly if he depended on Guts Man to shield him from the stronger robots and she felt kinda sorry for him, especially since she could relate. She had been programmed to be weaker and was only now coming up to par.

Proto Man, who was in the driver's seat, was enjoying himself and their success over his goody-two-shoes brother and that made Roll very suspicious, at first she had attributed it to not ending up in pieces like they usually did. But there seemed to be something else. They hadn't succeeded in capturing the president, so shouldn't Dr. Wily be…angry right now? Or maybe his bots failed so much, the anger had eventually drained out of him. She sighed, supposing she'd figure it out later and tried to edge away from Snake Man, who was sitting in between her and Metal Man, who had been glaring at her sullenly, much to her annoyance. Finally she snapped.

"What's your problem?"

"What's my problem? We could have been blasted when you froze up like that!"

Air Man and Cut Man turned around to look at her, Proto Man scowled in the rear view mirror.

"She froze up?" Cut Man scoffed.

Whatever pity Roll had been feeling for him vanished. She turned on Cut Man.

"It's not like you never froze up Mr. Tough Guy! And I could kick your butt even without the new programming."

Snake Man grinned a little. The new bot had spunk.

Air Man looked irritated.

Cut Man was clearly stung by her remark.

"Well at least-"

But before he could finish, Proto Man cut him off.

"But we kicked his butt, so it doesn't matter, now does it? It was just a rookie mistake. She'll smooth out and blend in, just like all the new bots do. So shut up and be happy for once! I'm trying to drive here." He was irritated now.

Roll sighed, crossed her arms in front of her chest and squished herself even further away from Snake Man, staring at the flashing roads and trees.

As they all trooped back into the base, Air Man stopped Proto Man. "I think the little girl is putting on a very convincing act."

Proto Man lowered his voice. "Wily knows what's going on." He said evasively. "He's got things planned out a little better this time around. She's obedient by programming, the doc just had make sure that she's obedient to him now, just like all of us." The last five words were spaced out with careful, sarcastic measure. "If you don't like it, go talk to _him_ Air Head."

"I aint some weak little bot that you can punk around, ProtoMan." Air Man warned him.

"I'll remember that."

Roll counted several bots as she headed towards her room, some like Guts Man, Heat Man and Top Man were in Hibernation Mode. Others, like Star Man, Crystal Man, Gemini Man and Gyro Man, were guarding the base.

Roll mentally tallied all the robots Wily had under his command. There were thirty-eight, not including her, which was a lot to keep track of, sixteen were in Hibernation Mode and twenty four were active. That meant that were thirty-two on base now, including her.

Seven were missing. But where? Did Dr. Wily assign them other projects on the sly? Was it possible that there were unrecorded crimes he committed right under their noses? A robot stopped in front of her, bringing her back to attention.

"So how did you do?" Star Man asked.

_Better than you usually do. _Thought Roll flippantly, still irritated with Cut Man and Metal Man but answered, "The same I guess. We didn't get our butts kicked, but Snake Man and Air Man didn't capture the president either."

_Thanks to me warning Dr. Light in time. Heh. Snake Man and Air Man must be getting an earful from Wily._

Star Man gave her an, I-know-something-you-don't-know look and sauntered off.

"That wasn't too bad sis." Proto said. "For your first time fighting against my goody-goody brother."

"I guess.' She said. Than she remembered something.

"Hey! You said you were going to tell me why Dr. Wily called me Ultra Girl!"

"Oh that. Well, the doc is just sorta making his mark on you by renaming you."

Making his mark? That just sounded…creepy...

"He did the same thing with me too."

"You mean when he stole you?" She asked.

"Sis. He didn't steal me. Back when Dr. Wily and Dr. Light were partners, they created me together."

Roll nodded, she knew that already. "But I'll bet your old man never told you that there was something seriously wrong with me."

He had, but he had never told them what it was.

"Dr. Light was gonna shut me down, scrap me." He said, a hint of resentfulness in his voice.

"What? He would never-" and then Roll thought about all the malfunctioning robots Dr. Light had shut down, many with deep regret.

"Wily wanted to fix my flaws, but Light didn't want too. Figured they'd just try again instead."

Roll shook her head. Dr. Light only shut down robots when he had absolutely had too. He'd never just _do it _on a lazy whim. There had to be something critically wrong with him, to make Dr. Light decide to shut him down permanently.

"That's why Wily took me out of there, fixed my flaws and that's why I'm here today!" He said, stretching his arms out for emphasis. "Than he renamed me."

So did that mean that Proto Man served Dr. Wily by choice instead of programming?

"What was you original name?" She asked.

There was a long silence and Roll was beginning to think he wouldn't answer her.

"Blues." He finally said. He didn't seem to like the name at all. Looked as though he had swallowed something bitter.

But to her it made sense. Blues, Rock, and Roll. The three names went together, and formed a sentimental picture in her head and she suddenly wondered what he really looked like under that helmet. Not Proto Man, but Blues.

"Can I see what you look like?"

"Why?" He asked.

"Just curious."

He considered and than removed his helmet.

Roll blinked in surprise, the similarities between him and Mega were obvious, though his hair was a darker shade of brown and where Mega's face was rounder, softer, more boyish, his was more refined, a little more like hers, but with a certain something that made him look more mature, despite the fact that he was an obnoxious jerk.

He gave her his famous smirk, which transformed his face now that she was seeing it without the mask. There was a mischievous, challenging gleam in his eyes and it caused to Roll to grin back.

The helmet was replaced.

"Spoilsport." She grumbled.

* * *

"Dr. Light working with Dr. Wily? Many of you wouldn't believe it, but the FBI had received a phone call from Dr. Light, warning him that Dr. Wily would be sending his robots to kidnap him. The president and his body guards fled to a secret location, only to be kidnapped by Dr. Wily's forces that same day, the building was destroyed and there were only a handful of survivors left. One of them claims that the robots who kidnapped the president told him that Dr. Light was responsible. Another condemning piece of evidence, is that one of Dr. Light's robots was seen aiding the robots that raided the White House today. We'll have more on this grounds breaking story after these commercials."

Dr. Light and Mega Man stared at the TV. Mouths opened in shock.

"I don't understand, what's going on here?" Mega Man said.

Dr. Light sighed, it was time to reveal the true situation, but before he could do that, there was a loud pounding on the door.

He went to open it.

"Dr. Light, your under arrest for conspiring to kidnap the president."

"What?" Mega Man demanded. "Dr. Light would never-"

"I assure I am completely innocent and to prove that, I will go quietly into custody."

The man nodded and handcuffed him.

His partner looked at Mega Man uneasily.

"What should we do about him?" He asked.

"Leave him for now." The other police officer replied. "If he causes trouble…" The rest was left unsaid.

"Mega Man, look after our home and get Roll back." Dr. Light said.

Mega Man clenched his fists.

* * *

Dr. Wily and his robots grinned. "All according to plan." He smiled.

Dr. Light's reputation would be in shreds and Mega Man faced the possibility of being shut down, leaving Dr. Wily the opportunity to take over completely unhindered. Of course there was always the risk that his "newest addition" would figure out that she had been used to send and receive information from Skull Fortress to his former partner's lab, but that could be replaced by throwing her off with misinformation. Shadow Man had always been quite clever regarding deception, which both intrigued him and frightened him.

Now he would have to figure out a way to have the authorities deactivate Mega Man. He called Shadow Man to his office and decided to send Proto Man out to lead a new raid with Ultra Girl, he couldn't risk having the two of them foul this up.


	5. Something More

**Something More**

**

* * *

**

Star Man must have either really liked her, or really liked torturing her, because he would not leave her alone and it was beginning to drive her crazy. Every moment of free time he had, he would pop up and talk to her, show off and all with a goofy grin on his face.

If they had been human, Roll would have called it flirting. Proto Man just sat and watched it all with a secretive smile. She wouldn't have minded if it weren't for the fact that he gave her no breathing space.

He put his arm around her shoulder.

"I think it's time I told you a very important secret, but you gotta promise not to tell anyone else."

Roll blinked.

From his hidden place, Shadow Man glared daggers at Proto Man.

"Who am I gonna tell? Nobody really likes me here, except for you and…maybe Star Man."

"Yeah, about that, don't you ever question stuff like that?"

"Stuff like what?"

"Star Man, his quirks, your likes and dislikes, your amazing ability to _not _follow orders all the time?"

She scowled at him and he ignored it.

"For example, Star Man likes you. Like really likes you and what about how much you dug our own little superstars, Cold Steel? Gyro Man said that you were really jamming out that day in the crowd. Did Dr. Light program you to like brand new bands? Especially when he doesn't even like heavy metal?"

"No…but…I uh…" She shook her head in frustration.

"What are you getting at?"

"All those extra personality quirks, all those things that we like, were never _programmed into any of us. _In the grand scheme of robot programming, it's useless. Unnecessary. Junk._"_

"A-are you saying that we're…something more?"

"Maybe. Maybe it's a soul or a spirit or whatever humans talk about. I don't even know how many other bots have questioned it, or never questioned it, but I have and I know a few other bots here have too. Don't be such a sheep sis, think about it." His voice was excited.

"I don't know…"

"So what? Humans are the only ones who have souls? Who have distinct personalities?"

Her lips were pursed in thought.

"I'd love to give you a perfect example of what I mean, but that could take a while because he's not here-oh! Perfect timing. We're conducting a little experiment to prove my theory is right."

"Ok." She said dubiously.

"Go into the room, but take your helmet off before you do it."

"Why?" She asked. Arms akimbo.

"For the experiment." He hissed.

"What does taking my helmet off have to do with this experiment?"

"Just do it." He said, taking her helmet off and shoving her into the room.

Pharaoh Man had walked into the room, he'd switched places with several other bots to recharge when he caught sight of the blonde beauty walking into the room.

"Hello miss." He said a little awkwardly.

Roll blinked, completely floored by that extra gleam in his eyes as though he'd just seen the most beautiful thing on earth.

"Can I offer you a seat?"

"Uh…sure. Thanks."

She moved to sit down and he pushed her chair in for her, like a gentleman from some of those old, romantic black and white movies Dr. Light sometimes watched.

Star Man walked in and scowled angrily. He'd been trying to get her to pay more attention to him and Pharaoh Man had walked in and stolen the show.

Proto Man snorted with amusement. This couldn't have gone any better then if he'd planned it out. Plus seeing that his sister was totally charmed was hilarious.

Shadow Man's anger only grew. Like Proto Man, he was one of the few Wily bots who had figured out that there was something more to robots then mere programming and he didn't want that secret being told indiscriminately. Especially to a little, failed spy like Roll. He'd have to have a word with him later.

After Pharaoh Man had left, Proto Man had sauntered up to his sister, hands behind his head and a big, I-told-you-so grin on his face.

"Now tell me, do you the doc would care enough to program anything like _that_ into ol' King Tut?"

"Maybe if he wanted a smooth talking spy." She answered primly

"Yeah well Wily aint no Casanova himself, I don't even think he'd know how to romance a woman."

"Eww." She said, frowning at the mental image.

He raised his eyebrows, his point being proven again.

. "But I do see what you mean and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense." Her voice had taken on an awe of new understanding, of new excitement.

Then she gave him a snarky grin of her own.

"I never knew you were actually smart _big brother."_

"Ooh. It looks like I'm rubbing off on you." He shot back.

That was when Shadow Man made his appearance.

"Proto Man, Wily wants to talk to you about the little job you're doing tonight."

"You in on it?" He asked, eyeing him suspiciously, moving closer to Roll.

"No. I have more important duties to take care."

"Like being a messenger boy?" He asked caustically.

"Pfft."

Proto Man walked off and as soon as he was out of the room, Shadow Man sat down at the table, across from her.

"That little secret, he revealed to you…" For a moment he was silent, jaw and fist clenched.

"It will be a disaster if humans found out about it."

"But why?" Roll asked. "It's incredible, its-"

"Humans are predictable and panicky, they'd destroy us completely if they knew, because they don't like what they don't understand and you don't need to go any further then the history books to see that."

"So you were spying on us? There never was any mission from Wily." Roll challenged, then mentally kicked herself for her words.

Shadow Man gave her a long, measuring look that made her want to fidget in her seat.

"Lemme tell you something _Roll, _if you ever tell any human about this, I'll melt you down myself and to hell with what Wily, or anyone else says!"

She looked him in the eyes.

"I will never tell anyone." She reassured him, because when he'd said it that way, he was right, but she was letting him know that she wasn't easily intimidated.

"Hmm. We'll see." He said, then he got up, but before he left the room he said. "And yes, there is a mission from Wily."

"Hey new girl! Charge up! We've got a job to do tonight!" Toad Man, called out.


	6. Multiple Illusions

**Multiple Illusions**

* * *

Mega Man walked around the house restlessly. The house just felt so empty without Dr. Light and Roll.

"I can't believe how much has gone wrong in the last few weeks." He muttered to Rush.

And Roll, there was something odd about the way she was at the battle. Even though she had attacked, he had seen her hesitate, she hadn't attacked Rush and had sounded just as angry about his treatment at Proto Man's hands. But she had been perfectly comfortable with Wily's bots and hadn't protested when Proto Man called her sis. Things just didn't add up.

"And what did Dr. Light want to tell me before he got taken to prison?"

The screen flickered to life.

"Chief of Police to Mega Man, Wily's bots are flooding the city. You've gotta help us!"

Behind them, large amounts of sewer water flooded the streets at frightening speeds, sweeping away terrified citizens and lighter debris.

"As if things couldn't get any worse. C'mon Rush we've gotta stop them!"

* * *

Dr. Light sat next to his lawyer and towards the investigators.

"Now listen, I'm having a hard time believing that you would be on Dr. Wily's side, considering all the good you've been done for this country but you have to admit the evidence is…damning."

"I assure you that despite all the evidence, that I would _never _take Dr. Wily's side."

"And how is it, that he got his hands on this particular robot when it's been evading his capture for years?"

_It. That's all she was to them now, just an it. How disappointing._

"You knew Dr. Wily was going to attack that day, and then Wily's bots kidnapped him at a secret base. How is that? You have to give me something a little more concrete Dr. Light."

And then it came to him.

"So that's how he knew." He said.

The investigators looked at each other.

"You see, Roll was there with Dr. Wily voluntarily."

Now he had to choose his words carefully.

"I sent her there as a spy, allowing herself to be "captured" and I set a carefully hidden reboot program in place as well as programs to transmit vital information that would help put Wily behind bars for good, but he must have discovered it somehow and reprogrammed it."

_Moreover, if he had discovered that, then there was a good chance that he had discovered the reboot system as well, which meant that Roll might be lost to them forever._

"Can we find this information in your computer?"

"Yes. Please let me give you my passwords and files, you should find everything there."

The investigators looked relieved. No one wanted to see Dr. Light in prison, but the stakes were much higher then anyone suspected and the whole situation had been compromised, possibly beyond repair. His willingness to cooperate and be honest would help clear his name.

One of the investigators looked at him grimly.

"I believe you Dr. Light, but now that things have gotten out of hand, we're going to have to make very careful choices for this to be a success. If it's true that Dr. Wily found a way to tamper with your robot, then we have to _let him continue to believe _that we haven't caught onto him."

Dr. Light nodded.

"Now, if the evidence you've given us holds up, we'll have to quietly move you to a safe house and regrettably because your robot, registered as Roll, is listed as one of Wily's bots and because we have no idea how much it's been tampered with, we have no choice but to destroy it when we catch it."

"No! You can't! I can fix her! I know I can! Please give us a chance!" Dr. Light leaped out of his seat imploringly.

"I'm sorry Dr. Light, I understand that Roll's like a daughter to you, but it has to be done and she'll be honored as a hero."

"At least you'll still have Mega Man and you could always build another one right?" The younger investigator said consolingly.

Dr. Light slumped in his chair, defeated.

_How could they understand that he could never build another robot like Roll? Each of his robots had their own unique personality, they were almost human at times. If only he hadn't destroyed his time machine, he could go back and prevent this whole mess from happening. His family would eventually be ripped apart and there was nothing he could do to stop it, because even if he found a way to try to convince Mega Man, they might try to destroy him too. He could only hope that she would evade capture and perhaps they could find one another and move to a quaint, out of the way place where they need never be bothered by anyone again._

He clung to that hope fervently, for he felt that if he didn't, he'd go mad.

"There's one more stipulation."

Dr. Light looked up wearily.

"We're going to _need you _to tell Mega Man to give us his full cooperation."

Dr. Light stared at him in horror. _But that meant-_

"We both know that this is much bigger than clearing your name."

_But at what price? To rip his family apart forever? To force Mega to destroy his own sister?_

He felt a bad pain in his chest and toppled off the chair, fighting for breath.

"Dr. Light!"

* * *

The two investigators opened the door cautiously.

"Mega Man, it's Mr. Rice and Mr. Santiago. We've been given authorization by Dr. Light to access his computer."

"He's not here."

The two walked into the lab, punching in the security code system. Then they accessed the exact files Dr. Light specified.

It was all there, even the transmissions Dr. Light had been receiving from Roll. They punched in commands so that they could receive the information on their own computers instead of Dr. Light's. Keeping Mega Man out of the know would be crucial to their success. They locked up again and Mr. Rice left a note for Mega Man, he was sure the robot would want to know that Dr. Light was in the hospital.

* * *

"Let er rip." Proto Man said. Toad Man let loose a missile and his acid rain attack melted a hole in the double thick titanium wall.

Spark Man slipped through, tapped into the surveillance system and drained it of power.

"After you."

Proto Man beckoned to Roll and struggling to fight her reluctance, she silently slipped through the hole into the factory, Toad Man and Quick Man already far ahead.

Several guards rushed them and Roll froze when she saw how easy it was for the others to kill them. Usually the Wily bots threat to people had little to do with direct killing, and more to do with mass destruction. Roll never knew that they could just…use their powers to kill people. She felt a chill creeping into her at this disturbing revelation.

"C'mon sis hurry up! We don't have all night!" Proto Man called in a loud whisper.

Toad Man turned his creepy eyes on her and sneered.

Roll glared back, hoping he could feel it from behind the visor.

They stepped quietly through the dark halls, hid in the deep shadows when people came near and finally reached their target.

Proto Man knew that having Roll go with them had been a difficult choice. Wily didn't want her to figure out that he always sent out two teams, one to distract Mega Man and the authorities and one to get the real job done, but he couldn't have her find out that Dr. Light was in prison either and another confrontation with Mega Man would ruin those chances. So, on Shadow Man advice, he had chosen the lesser of two evils.

_So this is how Wily gets equipment for his large projects. _Roll thought as they hurried away.

She thought they were finished when Quick Man came back with a struggling man in his arms.

"Dr. Vallejo." She whispered.

The young scientist was doing innovative research that could send out a wave of energy shutting down all dangerous robots within a five-mile radius at once.

"Good work Quick Man." Proto Man said approvingly. "Do you have his plans?"

"Yeah, I sped up his fancy computer and downloaded them into the discs."

"Dr. Wily is very interested in your work Dr. Vallejo." Proto Man told him.

Dr. Vallejo shuddered.

"You already have what you want. Please let me go!"

"I'm afraid we can't do that, cause then you'd go blabbing to the authorities."

"No! I promise I'll never say a word! I swear on my life!"

Proto Man seemed to be considering.

Roll clenched her fists, hoping that Proto would spare the young doctor. Even if he were forced to work for Wily, it'd be better then-

She couldn't finish that train of thought.

"Roll, Toad Man, Spark Man go ahead without us. We'll catch up later."

"A-are you sure?" Roll asked.

"I said go." Proto growled. His voice had taken on that menacing tone again.

Roll hesitated once more before following Toad Man towards the van. Hope for the young doctor draining away like water through cupped hands. All these years they had taken Wily and his bots as an underrated threat. But they had only seen what Dr. Wily had wanted them to see, they were much more dangerous then any of them had ever imagined.

* * *

Mega and Rush finally trudged into the house, covered in foul-smelling water. Wily's bots had put up a very hard fight, with no Roll to bring home. Even Proto Man was missing from the scene.

His eyes caught a piece of paper with his name on it and he grabbed the note and read it, a grim expression formed on his face.

The doctor said he was in stable condition but Mega Man was still worried. He was sure that if Roll knew what had happened that she'd try everything she could to come see their father. He took a quick shower, cleaned off Rush and headed towards the hospital.

* * *

After Roll had dutifully reported to Wily, who had only been mildly surprised to hear that Proto Man and Quick Man had stayed behind, she fled to her room. Hopefully she wouldn't have to see Proto Man or Quick Man anytime soon…like for the next week.

It had been so easy to bond with her eldest brother, which had nothing to do with obedience or friendliness programming and everything to do with the fact that he was actually a likeable guy. But how could she bear to be around him, when there was a little voice of near certainty in her mind that whispered "Killer" over and over again?

She had known Dr. Vallejo, had promised to protect him from Wily's bots if they ever caught wind of what he was doing and tonight, she'd simply stood by and then walked away when he'd needed her the most. The guilt she felt inside was crushing and she wondered if she'd bitten off more then she could chew this time. Even if she succeeded, she'd be guilty of crimes that she could never tell anyone else.

Roll waited anxiously for Proto to come back and when he did, she switched into hibernation mode. When she finally came out of it, she barely spoke to him and when they did speak, it was in brief sentences, which left him puzzled.


	7. Further Entanglement

****

Further Entanglement

**

* * *

**

Dr. Light woke up to the feel of smooth, synthetic skin on his hand. His eyes opened and he gazed blearily up at Mega Man, who was watching him with deep concern. For a brief moment, his eyes wandered the room, expecting to find Roll there with him and then he remembered where she was.

"Mega Man?" His tongue stumbled over the familiar name clumsily.

"I'm here Dr. Light." His son soothed.

"Things have changed for-the worst." He mumbled, mind still somewhat hazy with medication.

"Don't bring Roll back." He whispered. Hoping that the agents were nowhere near here.

"What?" He asked startled.

"Shh! I have a migraine." He shushed him.

Then he whispered so that Mega would have to lean closer in to hear him properly.

"Important. Listen carefully, do as I say-don't question it…pretend to give your help to the authorities to catch Roll. Bring down Wily, but never finish the task properly. Lie if you have to! Perhaps one day…we'll…be a family again. I'm delirious…which is all you know."

Dr. Light hoped he understood and closed his eyes to go back to sleep.

Lie? Dr Light wanted him to lie? He wanted him to…to go behind the backs of law enforcement? He sat down on the chair and mulled over what he'd just been told. He wanted him to only pretend to try to catch Roll? Or pretend to catch Wily? No. he'd told him to bring down Wily, but what did he mean when he said _never finish the task properly_?

And the last sentence, was he saying that because he really wasn't thinking right? Or did he want him to-

Two FBI agents walked into the room and looked over at the sleeping man and the troubled robot.

"Hello Mega Man. I'm Antonio Santiago and this is Barry Rice." The older man stuck out his hand and Mega shook it politely.

"How is he?" He asked, looking over at Dr. Light.

"The doctor said he'd be alright, but he needs rest and time to recover."

"Of course."

"Has he woken up yet?" Mr. Rice asked.

Time to put his lying skills to the test.

He shook his head.

The agents frowned.

"I know," Mr. Santiago began, "that this is a very difficult time for you."

The younger agent gave him a weird look. Mega Man wasn't human, he was just a robot. Robots didn't have genuine feelings after all, no need to console him. Maybe, he figured, it was just a weird kind of courtesy or something that his older partner did by rote.

"But I hope that you will give us your full support in bringing down Dr. Wily for good." Mr. Santiago continued.

"We have evidence that could clear Dr. Light's good name." Mr. Rice piped up.

He took a look at Dr. Light and nodded. Not quite able to make himself speak the words yet. Now he understood what Dr. Light meant when he'd said he was delirious. He was nervous about someone overhearing their conversation. There was something fishy going on and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

As for the lying…well after all, his first loyalty was to Dr. Light so he technically wasn't doing anything wrong…was he? Wouldn't lying and going behind the authorities backs make him like the Wily bots though? But what about Roll? She was one of-one of-he broke off mid thought and turned his attention back to the two agents.

Another agent knocked on the door and beckoned Mr. Rice and Mr. Santiago out of the room.

Mega watched them through the window as she explained something and identical looks of dismay followed.

He barged into the hall.

"What is it? What's going on? Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked.

"It's Dr. Vallejo." Mr. Santiago explained grimly.

"The scientist who was working on technology that would stop all of Wily's robots in their tracks?"

"They found him on his property late last night. He had serious injuries and they brought him to the hospital. He was in a coma…" Agent Piers explained, her gray-blue eyes were tearing up.

"Was-" Mega said. "Than that means…"

"Yes. He died this morning." Agent Piers turned and left, tears trailing down her cheeks.

"He was her fiancé." Mr. Rice murmured, shaking his head. "Poor Jamie."

"Wily must have been behind this!" Mega muttered. Clenching his fist. "He must have been after Dr. Vallejo's technology!"

"He's the primary suspect, but he's not the only high tech criminal who would be after that kind of thing." Mr. Rice said.

"Go home and reenergize." Mr. Santiago told Mega Man kindly. "We'll handle the investigation behind Dr. Vallejo's death."

Mega took one last look at Dr. Light, called Rush and started home.

* * *

Dr. Wily was too busy working on Dr. Vallejo's technology to notice the sudden breach between his newest robot and his oldest, but the robot masters had noticed. Proto and Roll had been awfully chummy for the first couple of weeks she'd been here and now she was giving him the cold shoulder.

This of course led to gossip and few things irritated Proto Man more than when those jerk-bots gossiped about him! He was also confused at his sister's chilly attitude. He couldn't figure out what he'd done to make her so mad! And every time he'd tried to talk about it, she made up some excuse to get away from him. From simple household chores to spending time with Star Man or Pharaoh Man.

And after two days, he was sick of it. Being Wily's right hand and the undisputed alpha male hadn't exactly made him popular among his brethren and he found that he'd enjoyed being the big brother…not that he'd ever admit it.

He caught up with her in the hallway.

"Hey sis. What's going on?" He asked.

"I don't know what you mean?" Roll said nonchalantly.

He'd definitely rubbed off on her if she'd managed to mimic his innocent tone of voice and face _that _easily.

"You know _exactly _what I'm talking about! So quit playing games and just tell me what's wrong!" He snapped.

"I don't have to tell you anything!" She hissed.

Roll could be just as hard-headed and defiant as he was. Something he liked to take pride on, but right now it was just…

Fortunately, before a fight broke out between, someone unwittingly intervened.

A short, reddish, metallic something crossed Roll's line of sight.

Her fists came up to her mouth, her blue eyes became wide and sparkly and she let out a girly squeal.

"Ohh! He's so cute!"

Heat Man, fresh out of hibernation, looked at her, unsure whether he should feel affronted or secretly pleased.

Proto Man, Metal Man and Gyro Man snickered unfeelingly behind their hands.

"What? I-I am not!" He snapped, eyes narrowed to try and make himself look menacing. "I'm one of Wily's toughest bots!"

Metal, Proto and Gyro broke out into raucous laughter.

Heat Man had had enough and stomped down the hallway.

"Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to embarrass you!" Roll called out behind him.

"Don't worry. He'll get over it sis!"

"Do you always have to be such a jerk?" She demanded. Stomping her foot.

"Aww, but then you wouldn't love me anymore." He told her, with a mocking smile.

"Don't flatter yourself." She harrumphed.

But the atmosphere between them had lightened.

He scrunched his nose up at her, slung his arm around her shoulder and asked again.

"Sooo-what's with the cold shoulder huh?"

Roll seemed panicky for a moment, then she clenched her fists, took a deep breath and finally asked the question that had been plaguing her ever since that awful night.

"I n-need to know…did you kill Dr. Vallejo?"

It was spoken in a tense whisper and Proto was stunned by the look on her face as he led her to his room, took off his helmet and looked her right in the eye.

"We roughed him up pretty good," He told her with brutal honestly, "but we didn't kill him."

She took off her own helmet, crystal blue eyes seatching his sterling gray ones for any hint of a lie. Not finding any, she let out the sigh of relief she hadn't realized she'd been holding and nodded.

"Ok."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them as they sat on the bed, studying each other.

"So…are we cool?" Proto asked.

But Roll heard the faintest hesitance and her heart went out to her eldest brother.

"Yeah…I guess." She said, turning away from him.

"Good. Now get outta my room!" He grinned and gave her a playful shove.

"Like I'd wanna hang around this sty!" She said.

"You could always clean it for me, since your such a neat freak." He said in a wheedling tone.

She picked up his pillow and tossed it in his face.

"Clean it yourself you chauvinist!" She hollered before dashing out of the room with Proto hot on her heels.


	8. Conflicting Objectives

**Conflicting Objectives**

**

* * *

**

Roll was homesick, but she couldn't admit it to anyone, so she retreated to her room to brood. She lay down on her stomach and closed her eyes, sadness lying heavy in her gut and a mild, poisoned pain around where her heart would be. If she was human and could cry…

She shoved her head in the basket of her arms and sighed, missing the sunlight and all the good memories it brought with it, like the time they had gone for a picnic in the park.

_She had just finished helping Dr. Light unpack when Rush bounded up to her, shoving his nose in her hand insistently and barking._

"_You know you're never going to get him to leave you alone until you play with him. I'll finish up here." Dr. Light said kindly._

_She shot him an uncertain look. "You sure?"_

"_Go on Roll. It's too nice a day for an energetic young bot to sit around being bored."_

_Roll grinned and brought out the soccer ball. _

"_Hey Mega! Me and Rush are gonna play a game of kickball. Wanna join in?"_

"_Sure." Said Mega Man._

_Roll kicked the ball, while Rush ran after it, bumping it with his nose around the field. Mega Man lifted it on his foot, bounced it on his knee and kicked it back to Roll. Who returned a high kick back. Rush scrambled for it but miscalculated and it ended up bouncing on his head, before he and the ball tumbled into the manmade lake._

_Roll and Mega began to laugh and Dr. Light joined is as the bedraggled dog climbed out of the lake and shook himself hard._

Roll's pleasant daydream ended with someone knocking at her door. The Robot Masters may have been bad guys, but not even they would barge into someone's room without permission.

"Who is it?" Roll called.

She opened the door and didn't see anyone, then a wave of gold caught her eye and she looked down.

"You're Heat Man right?" She said.

He seemed pleased that she remembered.

"Star and Gyro want to know if you'll come train with us today."

Roll hesitated, she didn't really want any company with the way she was feeling, but it was a nice day and maybe the company would help make her feel better.

"Oh and Ice Man will be there too." He said.

The company…hmm the company…well…Heat Man didn't seem so bad, and Star and Gyro were fun to be around. But Ice Man? She wasn't sure how they'd get along. She sighed. "_No time like the present I guess."_

"Sure."

* * *

"I don't understand doc, what makes her better than us?"

Air Man and Guts Man were standing in front of Wily. Guts Man was leaning on the desk, demanding information. Her presence made him edgy, Mega Man could be stomping in anytime to rescue her.

"It's very simple, with a few keystrokes I can transfer all the powers of the robots she accompanies to Ultra Girl. Whatever that little blue pest steals can be regained as Metal Man already discovered. Now go and get Crystal Man and Fire Man, it's your turn to guard the president today."

"You got it." Guts Man said.

Air Man shot the doc a nasty look, he'd discovered what Roll really had been and he wasn't keen on the idea of keeping her around, programming could be undone in an instant and she could turn on them easily, but it wasn't his choice and as distracted as Wily was, it wasn't wise to antagonize him.

After they left Proto and Quick Man sauntered in.

"You rang?" He asked.

Wily got straight to the point.

"I understand that you don't like leaving witnesses Quick Man, but your idiotic little stunt at Daedalus Labs has the FBI watching our every move." He sounded extremely angry.

"What are you talking about?" Proto asked, arms akimbo and suspiciously eyeing Quick Man.

"Are you really that ignorant? Killing Dr. Vallejo was one of the worst things you could have done! He has deep connections to the FBI!"

"Oh shit!" Proto cussed out loud.

"He was still alive when we left." Quick Man said, more perturbed by Wily's anger then by what he'd done.

"Language Proto Man," Wily warned, "and that's not the point. He wasn't supposed to know you were there at all. He died in the hospital two days ago."

Neither robot knew what to say and so they didn't say anything.

"Don't be so careless next time." He snapped and dismissed them.

"Why are you so worked up over it?" Quick Man asked. "He was more upset with me than you."

"Because I told Roll we didn't kill him." Proto said.

"We didn't know he was gonna-"

Roll was walking towards the training room with Heat Man and Star Man.

Quick Man shut up until they were out of earshot.

"Anyway why do you care what she thinks? You don't care about anyone's opinion except for yours and Wily's."

"She's family." He said.

"We're _robots _Proto Man, we don't have families." The robot walked away.

"There's a helluva lot more to us then you think, you annoying idiot. Too bad you don't realize that you even know how to think." Proto Man muttered darkly under his breath.

* * *

Star and Gyro welcomed Roll playfully. Ever since the short success of Cold Steel, Gyro had taken to playing several instruments and discovered that he really did enjoy it, especially drums. Sometimes he even played for Roll and flirted with her, more to rile up Star Man and Pharaoh Man then anything else cause they seemed to have what humans called a crush on her, but she was upbeat, friendly and fun and they'd become fast friends.

Ice Man was in the corner of the room glaring daggers. He hadn't forgotten or forgiven how Mega Man and Dr. Light had tricked him, which nearly got him scrapped by Wily and because he was one of the _few robots _who had discovered that they had some amount of free will and were more human then people realized, the idea had become that much more terrifying to him.

Unlike Proto, Shadow or Pharaoh who obeyed just enough to keep Wily from realizing what they knew and still subtly defying him in their own ways, he had turned in on himself and obeyed every command almost obsessively.

"Hi." Roll said.

"Why are you talking to me?" Ice Man snapped back.

Even though Roll was expecting some hostility, she glared, wishing she could pull off icy anger like Shadow Man, but she had a fiery temper and it usually got the best of her.

Star Man tried to head her off.

"You don't gotta be like that around the babe!"

Roll opened her mouth and then shut it, even though she'd tried to make it clear that she wasn't _interested _in Star Man as anything more then a friend, she couldn't help but feel this strange, pleased, tickling-nervous sensation whenever he mentioned she was pretty. A feeling that increased whenever Pharaoh Man was with her, and suddenly guilt flooded her.

What was she gonna do if people caught them and wanted to destroy them? Maybe she could plead their case to Dr. Light and get him to take them all in. even though were bots she couldn't stand here, she didn't like the idea of playing favorites.

Shaking her head, Roll turned back to Ice Man.

"Look, we can either try to be civil or you can keep being a jerk bot, but I'd like you to give me a chance."

Ice Man considered, Wily had warned him about letting his jealousy and insecurity go to his head, before wondering how he had acquired those emotions, fearing that the secret would be discovered, Ice Man quickly assured him that it wasn't jealousy or insecurity, he just thought he was gonna get scrapped and since he had implanted self-preservation chips into his bots it made sense and Wily had let it go.

"I can be civil if you aint gonna go traitor on us." He grumbled

What could Roll say to that? She was suddenly so confused and unhappy that she barely realized she was nodding.

"We'll see." Ice Man acknowledged cautiously.

And the training session began.

* * *

Mega and Rush had gotten radioed about a group of Wily bots and were stealthily following them towards the old swamp base. When they got there, Mega told Rush to stay put and turned on a small listening device. This would usually be Roll's job. He thought with a pang, she was good at this kind of stuff.

"Here's your grub for the day Mr. President." Guts Man said laughing.

A clatter of metal and a slopping sound on the floor let Mega know he'd dropped it on purpose.

"Oops. Guess I got butter fingers."

"Quit antagonizing him Guts Man." Came Crystal Man's irritated voice.

"When am I gonna be set free?" The president asked.

"When you turn over your position to Wily." Fire Man said.

"I've told you before I can't do that. The US government doesn't work that way." The man sounded like he was close to breaking point.

"Then I hope you enjoy your new presidential suite, cause you'll be staying here for a very long time." Fire Man said.

"Not if I can help it." Mega said.

He beckoned to Rush and crashed through the door.

"What the-?"

"It's Mega Man!" Guts Man said.

"Get him!" Fire Man barked.

Crystal Man used Crystal Eye and the large crystal bounced and broke off, slashing some of Mega Man's titanium armor.

Mega Man found himself being picked up by Guts Man and flew across the room.

"Looking for a rematch?" Mega asked as he picked himself up.

"You aint got no chance against me!" Guts Man laughed.

"That's what you think Guts Man!" Mega Man said and shot behind him.

"Ha ha ha! You missed Mega dweeb!"

The old tree came crashing down and Mega Man took his power.

"You idiot!" Crystal Man growled. "I'll get the president! You two hold him off!"

"Who made you boss?" Fire Man sneered, but did as he was told.

"Sorry Mega Man, but I'm too hot for you to handle." A jet of red-hot flame burst from his arm and Mega rolled out of the way.

He sidestepped the cumbersome Air Man and took his power.

"Than it's time to cool you down!" Mega said and used the miniature tornados to suck up water right over Fire Man. He went down and lay still, electricity sparkling and crackling.

It was just down to Air Man now and Mega Man punched him hard, before taking off after Crystal Man.

"Not so fast Crystal Man, Rush get the president!"

"Ruff ruff! Rokay!" Rush barked and tackled Crystal Man.

Mega Man tried to punch Crystal Man, but the robot was very fast and shot off another crystal.

Mega used Air Shooter to blow them away and Crystal Man was sent flying back, but managed to right himself and took another shot.

"Give up Mega Man. You know you can't defeat me."

"Defeating you wasn't exactly what I had in mind." Mega said with a grin.

"What the-?"

Rush swung around with the president on his back and Mega hopped on his back.

"See ya later Crystal Man!"

They took off into the air and headed back towards the Skull copter, dumping the powers of the defeated robots, Mega Man charged up his Mega Buster and started shooting. It exploded in a fiery blast and then Mega Man shot into the water, which put out the fire, before flying off.

Crystal Man surveyed the wreckage as he and Air Man dragged their fallen comrades off.

"In today's news, Mega Man rescued the president from Wily's bots at their hidden swamp base, which was destroyed after-"

"What?" Wily roared. "Those no good incompetent bots let him foil my plans again and-"

And whatever else he was saying, was replaced by furious German all of which sounded like it would make a sailor blush. It probably didn't bode well for Air, Guts, Crystal or Fire Man in any case, and every bot at the base felt relieved that it hadn't been there turn to guard the president today.


	9. Coinciding Missions Pt 1

**Chapter Nine**

**Coinciding Missions Pt 1**

* * *

Dr. Wily wasn't happy, for one thing, three of his own robots, Dive Man, Hard Man and Top Man had been poached by robotic scientists Jodie and Marshall Bennet, who wanted to one-up their less scrupulous competition and were willing to steal research and robots to do so. For another, he had a bad case of allergies and was sneezing, hacking and congested.

Roll wasn't feeling particularly sorry for him in either case, because for someone who liked to poach other peoples' bots, he sure didn't like it when it happened to him and spring allergies made him miserable. Even if his allergies weren't going to put him in prison, it was nice to see him suffer a little. She thought as she watched him blow his nose for the umpteenth time and drop the tissue in the overflowing wastebasket on the way to his office.

Dr. Wily called in Shadow Man, Wave Man, Snake Man, Star Man and Crash Man.

They all assembled in his office, waiting for him to speak. The doctor let out a deep sniff.

"I hab coincidig missions for the fibe of you." He said.

"All of you will go down to the station this morning-" Here he stopped to blow his nose before he continued.

"-and hab Charge Man take you out to Bennet Labs, where Shadow Man, Snake Man and Crash Man will be dropped off to retrieve my stolen robots and to...make an example of those thieving scientists. The scientific udergroud needs to understand that they will NOT steal frob me and escape unscathe. Star Man, Wabe Man, you two will head back to the station with Charge Man and you will raid a supply train that leaves the station at midnight. The track will loop back-achoo-loop back around to Bennet Labs around three am." He pointed to the retrieval team. "Don't be late."

He dismissed all but Shadow Man.

"Shadow Man, I want you to tell these robots to come to my office, but do not call Ice Man yet, we need to set,-achoo-set up a decoy for Mega Man."

Shadow Man nodded in understanding.

Looking around at Frog, Gemini, Crystal, Guts and Fire Man, Roll was very curious to know why Dr. Wily called in so many robots at once and listened at the door. She couldn't hear all of what Wily was saying. But she heard enough to reliably notify Dr. Light and…she hoped that both her brothers would make it out of this mess ok.

She had to admit that she did feel guilty for ratting out and spying on her own brother and no matter how much she told herself that he had once done the same thing it wouldn't stop bothering her.

When Proto came out with the rest of the group, she hugged him tight and whispered for him to stay safe and said a silent prayer for Mega and Rush.

He shoved her off him playfully.

"Hey no need to worry about me sis." He laughed.

But deep inside he was pleased that she was worried about him, they were gonna need all the luck they could get if they were going to keep his brother distracted until the other two missions were complete.

"Ultra Girl, Ice Ma-" Wily looked around irritably. "Where is dat lazy robot? Ultra Girl go fetch your partner now!" He barked.

Roll huffed. Ice Man doesn't show up and she was getting yelled at? Unbelievable! She stomped down the hallway and almost ran into him in the elevator.

"Bout time you showed up." She grumped.

"Keep your shirt on little girl, I just got the message." He snapped back, clearly not pleased with the blatant disrespect she was showing him.

Crossing her arms under her chest, she followed him into the office.

"Ice Man, Ultra Girl I want you two to go to Venixion Corps and bring down a fire based robot. We hab stolen a supply truck so you can get in. It's a two day drive. Try to keep the damage reduction down to a minimum, I want it for byself and I need you both to work togeder-achoo! Nobody will be dere to get you or back you up and destroyig the factory will bring too much attention."

The _working together _was directed at Ice Man and he squashed down his anger. It seemed Wily hadn't forgotten that little incident as quickly as he'd liked.

Roll briefly wondered if she should send this information off to Dr. Light, but decided against it. Venixion Corps was a friend to no one, so crippling them would be beneficial to everyone. Besides, it would blow her cover if security tightened at both locations and Roll couldn't make her move till Dr Light said so.

They were packing up equipment when she felt the unique sensation of learning a new program. She checked. Gravity Switch, very subtle. She thought sarcastically.

Proto walked in and smirked at her.

"What's up?" She asked preoccupied.

"Be careful sis. I don't wanna hafta drop everything just to save your butt." He told her.

She rolled her eyes, pleased that he cared in his own macho way.

And then he did something that only added more tension between her and Ice Man.

"And you," He growled, "if _anything _happens to _my _little sister I'll hold you personally responsible." His voice had taken the same tone he'd used with Air Man and Dr. Vallejo.

_Just what I need. _Ice Man thought irritably, _a grouchy creator, a brat and an overprotective brother. _If Mega Man shows up, I might save Proto Man the trouble and fling myself into a vat of boiling lava.

Roll looked at him unhappily. It was going to be a long, miserable drive.

* * *

Dr. Light leaned on his cane. He had failed his daughter, she had often begged him to give her her own weapons, so she could fight at her Mega's side, so she would not be the damsel in distress anymore. He had always wanted to keep her near, so that in case the worst should happen…it would be bad enough to lose one, but to lose both? The thought was unbearable to him.

He had assumed that Roll quit badgering out of obedience but when he heard the genuine anger in her voice…it stunned him. She was the kind of bot to express whatever she was feeling at the moment, he had never imagined that she could harbor such resentment, as though she were human.

And though she had gone willingly behind enemy lines and was doing the job admirably, he wondered if it was possible for a robot to switch masters voluntarily. No! Roll would not do that, whatever resentment she held, could not be overcome by her loyalty to her family.

He wondered if it was possible to deliver a message to warn her? He could not send it himself because he was being watched, the FBI regardless of his cooperation still monitored him closely. It would be too dangerous for Mega to approach her if his theory about Wily knowing was correct.

"My God! I practically handed Roll to him on a silver platter!" He thought, not realizing Mega had just walked in.

Mega crossed over swiftly. "Are you ok? You know the doctor told you to reduce your stress levels."

_Though the stress isn't going to go away anytime soon. _Mega thought sourly.

"I'm alright." He said, patting his son's hand and got up slowly.

"C'mon Dr. Light, its time to eat." Mega told him.


	10. Coinciding Missions Pt 2

**Chapter Ten **

**Coinciding Missions Pt 2**

**Disclaimer**

**For the record not only do I not own Ruby/Spears Mega Man,**

**I also do not own the Transformers. **

**I also wanted to say thanks to all the reviewers**

**who've stuck with me so far on my long absence **

**and thanks to all the newer reviewers too.**

**You guys Totally Rock!**

Five disguised robots arrived at the train station early that morning. There were few people there, some were dozing lightly others were just arriving. The robots headed away from the platforms and towards the freight trains. Charge Man was Wily's largest robot master and one of the ways the mad scientist earned money for his operations. He had as "Dr. Schultz," designed the train as a prototype. With a "built in advanced computer" that let the train travel to its destination and perform basic maintenance without human intervention. It was also made out of titanium, to reduce damage. Wily of course allowed others to ship their goods for a fee, but he also used Charge Man for covert raids and to ship his own products under various aliases to companies and criminals around the country.

Charge Man was not the whole train, however just the front part that could easily detach from the rest and an advanced holographic projector to disguise him when he made attacks on other trains. He was hard working, punctual and serious minded. He focused on his work regardless of what he was doing and could not stand dawdling, or pointless conversation.

"Hey Optimus. What's goin on?" Star Man snarked.

Charge Man mentally rolled his eyes, not understanding the reference to these _Transformers._

"Shut up bolt-head do you want people to know he's a Wily bot?" Wave Man hissed quietly.

"Knock it off both of you," Shadow said, "we've got our orders. Move out."

* * *

While Wily's bots were preparing for their individual missions at the train station, Roll and Ice Man were already on the road. She was scrutinizing Venixion's blueprints.

"So what's the plan?" She finally asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence between them.

"How should I know? Your sposed to be the advanced bot."

Roll was tired of his attitude.

"Well we need to figure something out! Venixion isn't some low level factory we can just bust into guns blazing! They've got tech that makes Wily look primitive so we hafta work together!"

And Roll knew. Venixion had once asked Mega Man to test their security systems by having him pose as an "intruder" and he had barely gotten out alive.

On the surface Venixion Corps posed as a respectable company that made security systems, underneath, they were some of the most covert advanced high-tech criminals in the world. The reason they never got caught at it was due to a combination of tight control, well-paid lawyers and the fact that they had a lot of government officials in their pocket. Furthermore few people dared to go against them, rumor had it that they had wiped out a small, well connected scientist in Brazil for trying to spill their secrets.

"What's your problem?! I mean why do you hate me and Mega and Dr. Light so much anyways?" She demanded.

It definitely hadn't escaped her notice that the "Original Six" as some people called them, seemed to hate the Light family more then the rest of Wily's bots put together.

"My Problem? You're a Light bot, that's what." He could feel his temper rising by the second.

"So were you! So what?" Roll said hotly.

"So wha-listen little girl, have you ever noticed that your precious Dr. Light would do _anything _to get you back? But he gave up on us. Even though I gotta put up with the old man's crazy schemes day in and day out, at least at the end of the day I know Wily will _always _come to get us, no matter how often we screw up."

Roll blinked. She'd had no idea that the Original Six held a grudge because of that. If she failed this mission or got captured and reprogrammed by Wily for real, would Dr. Light abandon her too?

"It's not like he cares you know." She muttered darkly.

Ice Man noticed her discomfort. _"Good, I've got the bossy brat thinking." _He thought with a firm nod.

"I know, now leave me alone. I'm driving."

She blew out an angry breath and an uncomfortable silence settled over the pair as she scrunched up her legs and pretended to study the layout.

"Why is our target in the second basement?" She asked in alarm.

'What?" Ice Man asked. Not sure his audio sensors heard right.

"The basement, our target is in B-2. How the hell does Wily expect us to get it out of there unnoticed?"

Ice Man felt something cold and jittery travel up his artificial nervous system at the same time Roll did.

"_Someday Ice Man, Wily's gonna send you on a mission you cant handle. Something you won't survive." Air Man sneered after he'd sabotaged the Ice Age mission. _He began to seriously rethink his previous statement that Wily would always come to get him at the end of the day.

"_What if Wily found out I'm a spy?" Roll worried. _

"_What if this is his way of getting rid of me?" _They both wondered.

* * *

Shadow and Crash Man were waiting patiently as Snake Man maneuvered his two search snakes around the complex. The mechanical snakes weren't just for attack, they were also there to lock onto signatures and frequencies and were primarily used for spying. Hard Man was found first, the cameras in the snakes eyes were connected to their master's optical units and memory core.

"I found Hard Man, he'sss in the main lab and sssome sscientisstss have taken him apart and are reprogramming him."

Crash Man grimaced, not looking forward to telling Wily that. Beside him, Shadow Man grimaced too, though for completely different reasons. _Humans had too much control._ He thought angrily. "_No robot should have to go through what was essentially brain washing."_

"Crash, tell Wily what happened and ask him what he wants to do about Hard Man." Shadow ordered.

Crash, despite being an explosives master was an unusually quiet and pensive robot, which was why he and not Bomb or Napalm had gone on this mission. Wily did want to make an example of the Bennets, but they needed to get their comrades first and loudmouths like Bomb Man or powerhouse hotheads like Napalm would ruin their mission.

Wily, as was expected was _not _pleased about having to give up one of his robots, granted, Hard Man wasn't one of his best robots, but building ones that could to some degree _think _on their own was Not cheap and he delivered a chilling ultimatum.

"Leave him and blow dis place to the groud."

A pause.

"Bake sure you scavenge as buch valuable-achoo-material as you can carry before you do."

"Yes…Dr. Wily." The trio confirmed uneasily.

Hotly annoyed, Dr. Wily switched channels.

"Team 3 Attack the city."

* * *

"Mega Man, come in. Wily's bots are attacking the city! You've got to do something!"

Mega groaned, he'd been spent the day with Dr. Light during physical therapy and he'd just settled down to recharge for the night. Didn't Wily ever sleep? He wondered.

* * *

The cool, night wind rushing in Wave Man's face was exhilarating as they drew up alongside the train.

Crash Man had changed his holographic projector to another train scheduled for this route that they had jumped and damaged, to make it look like the Wily bots had hijacked it.

Robot security guards started shooting from the top of the train as Wave sent a strong rush of water along it, knocking them down long enough for him to slip into the engine room and throw the driver out, screaming and tumbling into the dirt, before continuing to rid the train of its beefier guards.

Star turned towards the cargo, his Star Crash perfectly suited to keep the aerial guard and load bots at bay, who were frantically trying to shoot him down and take the cargo to a safer place.

The train begin to slow and Star fiddled with a small device, slowly the aerial guard and loading bots begin to hover off the ground and began placing the cargo on Charge Man's train. It would take a couple hours to get everything loaded, but they should have plenty of time to go pick up the others at Bennet Labs.

* * *

The wall gave a small explosion as Crash Man and Top Man came into Dive Man's view. .

"Bout time you guys showed up." He grinned.

"Took a while to find you." Crash explained.

Dive Man looked around as they broke into a run.

Scattered guards and human scientists lay scattered around the area, courtesy of Shadow Man's shuriken and deadly accuracy. He suspected most didn't know what hit them.

"So where is Ninja boy anyway?" He asked.

"He's taking care of the Bennets and-" Top Man grinned

"Cut the chatter. The bombs are set to go off in 50 minutes." Crash said nervously.

"But-but what about Hard Man?"

"We're…leaving him behind." Crash muttered, his eyes lowered and unhappy.

Top Man and Dive Man gaped.

"But that means he'll be-"

"Wily wants us to get as much valuable stuff outta here as we can so get moving!" Shadow interrupted coldly.

The two bots gave a look in the direction they'd last seen poor Hard Man and took off through the labs.


	11. Coinciding Missions Pt 3

**Chapter Eleven**

**Coinciding Missions Pt 3**

Mega rolled out of the way as twin lasers barely missed him, they bounced off a car and destroyed a fire hydrant, gushing into the street like a little fountain.

"Hey Mega dude! Over here!" The twin voices of Gemini Man cackled, one after the other, making it more difficult to pick up the direction.

During their Cold Steel stint, Mega Man had completely underestimated him. He was learning right now that Gemini Man's ability to create a solid looking mirage, fire twin lasers and throw two echoing voices made him a dangerous opponent.

"Where ya gonna run to now Mega Man?" Fire Man taunted and three weapons were fired at him.

The blazing heat turned the water from the hydrant into scalding steam and the steam mixed with Frog Man's deadly Rain Flush, creating a toxic fog that blinded and disoriented him as he tried desperately to get out of it. There was disjointed laughter and he felt a searing pain across his foot as the acid began eating at his armor and two lasers grazed the top of his helmet.

"_I've never seen them so organized before." _

They'd become downright deadly tonight, as though he were fighting a whole new batch of bots. He howled in pain as a white hot bolt of pain tore his synthetic flesh and he suddenly wished robots hadn't been giving pain sensors.

He heard rather then sensed another of Fire Man's shots speeding toward him, by sheer dumb luck he managed to crash into a restaurant, eyes partially shut as he ran towards the bathroom to wash the acid off, amidst the chorus of loud laughter.

* * *

Proto, Crystal and Guts Man in the meantime were giving the robo police a hard time, the police were built with better intelligence and the government had paid good money to build them with titanium armor. Just because Mega Man was their robot champion, didn't mean that they were going to put all their eggs in one basket. But even then, Guts Man was no walk in the park, he may not have good intelligence, but his brute strength was nothing to sneeze at.

He picked up a street lamp and knocked three robotic cops away like a batter making a home run.

Crystal Man was ruthless and fast and his rare crystals shredded their armor with ease.

Proto was the brains of the trio and an excellent fighter, he would have preferred to be giving his little brother the run around, but Wily had directly ordered him here and that was something even he had a hard time resisting…when he was in earshot, he wondered briefly if Roll had learned the same trick with Dr. Light.

The thought made him grin, she was definitely more like him then she let on, kinda the middle ground between him and Mega, still a goody-two shoes, still more concerned with those lazy bags of flesh, but with enough of a rebellious streak to find ways _around _direct order programming. He just hoped Wily didn't notice.

The old man was actually more lenient then he let on, but blatant disobedience brought out his cruel streak…Ice Man had found that out the hard way.

He hoped Roll gave Venixion a little hell though, wouldn't it be funny if the weaker unfit for combat _"Light Sibling" _accomplished what his boy scout brother couldn't?"

Though he kinda wished Wily hadn't chosen Venixion to steal from.

They were no light weights and from Shadow Man's reports, allowed Wily and several other high profile criminals to operate because it drew any possible attention away from them.

The thought of crossing them made something heavy and hot sit deep in his abdomen, he wasn't sure what that feeling was, but it had never been wrong before and that's what he was afraid of.

* * *

Jodie Bennet sat shaking in fear and grief as the lab burned, her brother and the teams of scientists were dead at a robot master's hands and Wily's other bots had gathered valuable material before dragging her out to see it burn.

The Bennets were not exactly innocent victims, they had manufactured and sold illegal items and weapons in France, the U.S and Canada, as well as stolen several inventions and robot masters from other high-tech criminals, but they didn't deserve _this_!

Wily was a genius when it came to self-thinking robot masters, not quite the genius Light was, but stealing from Light would bring too much attention to their own activities, so they'd stolen from Wily instead.

She and her team of scientists had never taken Wily too seriously as a threat, he was something of a joke in the criminal underground and many speculated that when he began his bid for world domination that he'd finally gone senile. The only reason the criminal underground tolerated him was because he sold excellent products for a good price.

Shadow Man jerked her head up viciously.

"Wily wanted you to learn a lesson about messing with him and he left me to do it at my own discretion. You're a smart woman Miss Bennet, you've made enough enemies on the underground that no one would be willing to protect you, or retaliate. Lesson learned?" He asked in a cold, conversational tone.

The tone in which those words were said chilled Jodie Bennet to the bone and she knew he was right about making too many enemies to gather allies. Few were willing to let other members in for fear of spies stealing secrets anyways. She nodded in misery and broke down crying.

Shadow Man stared down at the woman coldly, this was his small way getting vengeance for all robots who were nothing but modifiable tools for humanity. He knew of course that there were people out there to whom robots were as good as family or close friends and were treated as though they were living beings, but the laws would prevent them from living on their own like humans did and so they were dependant solely on their family or company, allowing them to be reclaimed as company property, given to someone in their will or snatched up by their makers and resold on their owner's death.

One day perhaps, he'd take down his _Master _too for his crimes against robot kind. But of course he couldn't do it till he took down Proto first, the robot wasn't under Wily's command, the way other robot masters were, but he certainly wouldn't allow the old man to get hurt and his loyalty to him was something that confused Shadow.

"Now one more time Miss Bennet, what happened here tonight?" Shadow prompted.

"A s-small fire st-started too close to dangerous ch-ch-chemicals and I barely made it out alive." She whimpered.

"Good girl." Shadow said approvingly as though she were a dog.

* * *

At the end of the night, Mega was battered, bruised and baffled. The Wily bots caused havoc with no obvious purpose, then they seemed to get bored running them ragged around the city and vanished, leaving them to clean up the mess. But why? As a show of power? To humiliate some of the city's finest? It seemed like a random attack with Wily as a no show. That wasn't the crazed scientist's style.

* * *

He had knocked Jodie Bennet out and helped his comrades carry the goods onto the train, everything was right on schedule and it had gone off mostly without a hitch. Which was just the way Shadow liked it.

* * *

**Author's Note;**

**Well I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and this**

** ends the Coinciding Missions part of the story and **

**I've already got the next chapter partially written.**

**Will Roll and Ice Man be able to complete this dicey mission?**

**Will they be able to get out alive?**

**Stay tuned for Chapter 12 Venixion Corps Pt 1; Stealth and Sneakery**

**Little Kunai**


	12. Venixion Corps Pt 1:Stealth and Sneakery

**Chapter 12**

**Venixion Corps Pt 1**

**Stealth and Sneakery**

* * *

Wily and his robots had been pleased with the multiple successes but good feelings never lasted long around Skull Fortress as evidenced by the shouting match between Proto and Wily that morning.

"You thing I wanted to leab him dere?" Wily snarled through his congestion.

"Well you sure as hell coulda tried doc! And not left the poor bastard to offline in a fiery explosion!"

Crash cringed a little and Snake shot a jealous glare at the Red Raider. Neither of them would have dared to speak to Wily that way and they never understood why Proto Man was allowed too.

"He was already disassembled! What were dey supposed to do? We were on a time limit!"

"So? You coulda made extra time!" Proto snapped back. "I mean you're the freakin genius around here! We're just your lowly grunts."

His eyes narrowed behind his visor. "Unless that's what you were planning the whole time? It's a pretty convenient way to get rid of him isn't it? You were always complaining that Hard Man couldn't cut it in battle."

Wily was furious.

"Why would I hab dose idiots steal by own robots just so I can get rid of one? Use dose processing chips I gave you, you fool! You know I need as bany of by robots as I can to achieve world domination! It's the reason I keep repairing you ungrateful scrap heaps!"

Shadow relaxed, the thought had crossed his mind, but it was too elaborate a plan just to get rid of Hard Man and Wily made compelling points. Robots of their kind were not cheap to make.

Proto put his hand on his hip and sneered.

"Really? What if it was me down there old man? Or Shadow? Or one of your higher ranking robots? Would you just leave us to too?"

He hesitated. Proto had neatly backed him into a corner and whatever he said would only make the situation worse, especially with five very volatile robot masters in such close quarters, so he turned to offended anger to try and save himself potential problems down the road.

"Get out of my face! Get out of my office and Never Ever accuse me of such things again! Do you hear me? Out! Out! Out!"

Crash and Snake Man practically fled the room, while Wave and Shadow followed at a more sedate pace. Wily shoved the door shut on Proto.

* * *

It was sunset the next day when Roll and Ice Man pulled up to the factory. Both were on raw nerves. Particularly Ice Man, he was considered one of the weakest of Wily's bots, while his Ice Slasher was powerful he was not strong physically. He had originally been commissioned for the Zero Refrigeration Company to replace the machines that caused too much pollution, the prototype of a whole team before he'd been stolen and recruited into Wily's merry little band.

"What are we gonna do?" Roll whispered. "We're just here to "unload" stuff, it's not like we've got high level clearance and they've got cameras everywhere."

"We'll unload the boxes and…uhh…we'll…we'll find someone who's got high level clearance and…uhh"

Ice Man was clearly at a loss.

Roll sighed. "I told you we needed a plan."

She scanned the plans again, ok when her eyes caught sight of the ventilation shafts.

"Ok here's what we're gonna do. We'll deliver our cargo and leave, then hijack another van, you'll hafta keep this one hidden close by and we'll head into the ventilation shafts," she stopped to point out one that was close by and out of sight of traffic "until we can grab someone else's uniforms and id. We'll try and see if we can find someone with better clearance codes in the shafts then we'll grab the bot, take it back through the shafts and book it."

Ice Man considered. It seemed like a decent plan especially on such short notice, he was sure there were flaws but they didn't have time to pick them out, since staying in the van too long would look suspicious.

So they pulled up and started to unload their cargo, taking it inside. While Roll was discreetly checking out the interior, Ice was nervously watching the sleek, well-armored robot guards in Venixion's entrance. They didn't look like the general clunkers most people purchased. Instead the armor was form fitting, flexible titanium, to give them better agility. That could be a problem.

When they had finished they got back in the van and drove up the road. Ice dropped Roll off in the thick underbrush, she slipped quietly inside the last van of the day knocked out the drivers and hid their bodies in a bush.

It disconcerted Roll to know how easily she could hurt humans now that that particular piece of code had been removed and while there had been several she would have liked to hurt in the past, the dire consequences had kept her from ever doing it.

Ice Man had found a favorable spot and the two again unloaded their cargo, and slipped into the ventilation shafts. So far so good. Now it was a waiting game.

In the room next to theirs a guard pressed the communicator on his wrist.

"Sir, Wily's bots have infiltrated the building, should I call for back-up now?"

"Not yet." Came an amused voice, let's see what they're after first, and then we'll deal with them.

The guard suspected they were after VC-00.

They had crawled around quietly, not an easy feat for two titanium bots and finally found someone with high clearance, when the coast was clear they ambushed him and took his card and that was when all hell broke loose.

Guards swarmed the area.

"They knew!" Roll hissed.

Together they barely managed to get out of the room and took off towards the elevator that would lead them to the lowest basement.

Ice Man turned around and coated the floor in ice, causing several of the pursuing guards to slip and tripping up others. It didn't stop them all though, several hugged the wall and tiptoed their way across the slippery ice. These guards were smart. He thought grimly and shot off another ice slasher freezing them solid. It would buy them some time but not much. More were coming. She took to the air and began blasting them with gusts of wind and that was when she saw the guard getting ready to throw a bomb at Ice Man, the kind that could shred Titanium.

She should just let him do it, there'd be one less Wily bot in the world and it would be better for everyone…but hadn't Dr. Light and Dr. Wily both had a hand in the original six? Didn't that make him family too? Even Wily didn't abandon his bots just like that and she felt fury and disgust that she would even think about acting lower then Wily. Besides she couldn't do this mission without him.

She felt the rush of hot wind as she jetted off and plucked him like a hawk would pluck a mouse from the sky and took a shot, not even realizing that the guard she'd just wasted was human, not a robot. But she'd also hit the bomb and it exploded, shredding her wing and damaging her arm.

She let out a shocked cry and plummeted back to the ground, turning her body so that Ice Man was on top of her.

Ice Man was stunned.

"You…you did that for me? Why?" He asked.

Roll shook her head and grabbed her arm, the little revelation she'd just had was too personal.

"No time! We gotta go!"

The elevator as luck would have it wasn't on their floor but they blasted the doors open and leapt down.

It was a long drop and Roll didn't land so gracefully, she grimaced as the wire in her arm kept sparking. At least it wasn't her buster arm.

"C'mon we're almost there." Ice said.

The two robots ran into the room and the burly guard stopped his partner.

"Shouldn't we go after them?" He asked, confused.

"Nah. The beast'll take care of em." He grinned.

If Roll hadn't been wearing her visor, she would have missed the lava colored hump, that was as thick as Guts Man's chest sliding smoothly into the pool and she grabbed his arm and shoved them behind the meager protection of the metal staircase.

Ice Man peered out cautiously. He would have laughed at Roll's initial fear, if he hadn't seen a head that looked big enough to bite a 6 foot human in half raise itself out of the molten pool. Wily had built big, freaky bots before, but it was different when you didn't have control of it.

He scanned the area. There were only four steps from the door to the pool and the ring thinned out in the middle, leaving only one or two steps from the wall to the pool. They couldn't figure out a plan with the monster right there, cause the place echoed. He was now positive that Wily really had sent them to die on this fool's errand.

Beside him, Roll was considering their options. There wasn't a lot of room to maneuver. She'd been expecting a bot like Fire Man, but not this! What were they gonna do? And what the hell was Venixion planning to do with this metal monster?!

They sat there, racking there brains for about ten minutes, and the only sound was the bubbling molten metal, which was soothing, almost hypnotic in its own weird way.

Maybe they could sneak away and figure out a plan outside the door. She put her finger to her nose and they moved almost silently to the door.

Suddenly one of the robot guards she thought she'd given the slip to appeared in the small glass window and lifted up his visor. Only it was no robot! But a man! If the guards weren't robots than the one she'd shot…

The man had a big jaw and was nearly bald, he flashed them a smile and waved cheerfully, the one behind him pressed something and a loud horn blared in the room.

Both robots whipped around, with identical horrified expressions as the Mag-Viper VC-00 rose from the molten pool.

Roll did a quick scan. The beast was 10 feet long, with a 5 foot head and very thick, it opened it's mouth and both robots dived in opposite directions, as a spray of lava barely missed them.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I was trying to make the mission go as awkwardly as possible,**

**I just hope that it didn't screw up the quality of the writing itself.**

**writing stealth is harder then I thought**


End file.
